


my soul is spiraling in frozen fractals

by horlik_aholic



Series: 12 days of ziall fics [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Ice Skating, M/M, harry doesnt even speak, im sorry i suck at writing harry, niall is not, zayn is good at ice skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-01 17:53:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2782166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horlik_aholic/pseuds/horlik_aholic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>day 2 of my 12 days of ziall fics</p><p>despite louis' advice, zayn teaches niall how to ice skate</p>
            </blockquote>





	my soul is spiraling in frozen fractals

**Author's Note:**

> im also posting this one late because im a menace but its closer to the right day than the last one i posted was so maybe ill get the next day done in time! anyways here ya go, this is written for a prompt sent to me by radiserne !! its not exactly what you asked for but its ziall and ice skating and being cute so i hope its okay!! its also not exactly holiday themed but its winter themed it still counts OK
> 
> its not britpicked or beta'd as per usual so sorry about that and please point out any mistakes if you find them
> 
> title from let it go because IT JUST WORKED OK IM A TOTAL MONSTER WHEN IT COMES TO FROZEN i just love it so much sue me

Watching people who have no idea what they’re doing is Zayn’s favorite part of coming to the ice skating rink. At first, it had just been the fun of skating, like sliding across a clean floor in only socks except  _better_. This new hobby though, Liam and Louis are to blame. (Aren't they always?)

If Zayn were to guess, he’d say Louis’d probably been the mastermind behind it, although lately Liam’s been just as bad. There’s no escaping Lou’s influence once he’s decided you’re worth corrupting and Liam is his most successful project to date.

He'll never admit it to them, but they’re right— there’s something wickedly entertaining about seeing people take to the ice with total confidence only to leave with sore arses and bruised egos. The awed looks that Zayn, Liam, and Louis get when they skate circles around them makes it just that much better.

Today though, he’s been watching the same bloke try his hand at skating for nearly an hour. Most people like him get sick of it after 20 minutes, half an hour tops, retreating to the warm food court for hot chocolate or tea. Zayn’s been watching long enough to know that this guy’s friend did exactly that. They both stepped on the ice, ankles wobbling and clutching each other for dear life, and tried a few laps without releasing the sides. The taller, gangly one got bored quickly even by a beginner’s standard, but the blonde one waved him off and pushed on.

He turns to Louis, “Lou,  _look_  at him. He’s proper trying, like. Someone needs to help the lad.”

Louis snorts, skating backwards alongside Zayn. “I don’t think you get this whole ‘laugh at people who suck’ thing. If you help him, he won’t suck anymore. And if he doesn’t suck anymore, who will we laugh at?  _Priorities_ , Malik.”

Zayn looks at the blonde again, his face scrunched up in determination as he makes a shaky attempt to move forward without pushing off the wall. It’s not all that funny; its actually sort of cute. 

"C’mere a minute, would ya Liam?" Louis calls, stopping abruptly in front of Zayn and forcing him to veer left into the wall. 

Liam comes skating up, stopping beside the pair with a flourish. “What’s up Tommo?”

"Can you believe," he glances sideways at Zayn before continuing, "that Zayn wants to teach blondie over there to skate?"

Without hesitation, Liam starts nodding, “Yeah, yeah. I believe that. Look at ‘im— he’s exactly Zayn’s type.”

Louis whips around to face Zayn, betrayal written across his features, and Zayn groans. Fuck Liam, seriously.

"You mean to tell me," Louis begins slowly, eyes narrowing, "that Malik wants to teach this guy not to suck at skating just so that he’ll suck his dick instead?"

Zayn slaps a mitten covered hand to Louis' mouth, muttering curses under his breath. "Lou, what the fuck? I don't even know the guy!" He turns at points at Liam, "And you. You're dead to me."

Liam laughs and Louis bites Zayn's hand where it's still clasped against his mouth, hard enough to hurt despite the glove, which just makes Liam laugh harder. With an agitated sigh, Zayn pushes hard off the ice and propels himself forward, making his way toward the blonde. Fuck his friends.

The guy is resting against the wall, just staring down at his feet as if willing them to know what to do. "Hey, um," Zayn begins, bringing his hand to the back of his neck only to immediately pull it away again. Louis' spit is still on the soft material of his glove. Gross.

A pair of blue eyes to rival Louis' snap up to meet Zayn's, and the boy's face flushes the slightest bit. His ears and nose are red from the cold and his hair is a messy like he's been tugging at it. The smile he gives Zayn is tentative, questioning, and Zayn mentally curses at himself because from this close, there's no denying it. Liam was right, the lad is exactly Zayn's type. 

"Hey mate," the bloke answers with a nod, looking on expectantly. 

Zayn already kind of regrets approaching him. Socializing has never been one of his strong points. 

"Uh, m'Zayn. Saw you, like," he waves his hand around uselessly, gesturing to the ratty rental skates the guy is wearing, "Trying to skate. Thought you could use some help if you wanted it."

There's a pause, and Zayn wets his lips absentmindedly while the other lad appraises him, scanning his face. Then he breaks into a blindingly brilliant grin, cocking an eyebrow. 

"Trying to put me outta my misery then, eh?" he laughs, "I saw you and your mates over there, putting everyone in the place to shame. S'pose I'd be mad to turn ye down, so sure. Nice t'meet you Zayn, I'm Niall."

Zayn's whole body relaxes, and he smiles at Niall in relief. "Yeah? Cool. It's pretty sick that you decided to keep trying even after your friend gave up ages ago."

"Yeah, well, Harry is sort of-- hey wait," Niall grins, locking eyes with Zayn, "You've been watching us for that long? He called it quits like an hour ago, mate."

"Uh, well," Zayn splutters, know he's been caught. Instead of arguing, he goes for broke, "Honestly bro, my mates and I come here to watch people make fools of themselves. Not that, like, you were making a fool out of yourself, uh. Just like, its a good laugh to see people fall on their arses from time to time. Which-- I'm pretty sure your friend had the best fall per minute ratio any of us have seen yet. All those limbs and all, innit. But he quit and you kept trying which is really cool and you looked like you really wanted to learn, so."

Niall's mouth is sort of hanging open a bit and he's tugging at his hair, and Zayn's thinking he maybe shoud've listened to Louis, but then he sees Niall's gaze flick down to his lips as he breaks out in a smile.

"Right then. Let's get started."

"Yeh, alright. Well, um. Have you ever been skiing?"

Niall shakes his head regretfully, "Funny story, that. Been wanting to try for ages, but." He shrugs.

"Okay then, forget that. You want to use one skate to push your body forward, shifting your weight back and forth between feet. Like this." He skates head of Niall. exaggerating his weight shift and keeping his foot strokes long and sweeping, before skating back. "It's also really important that you don't toe pick. Uh, what I mean is, make sure you don't drag your toe along the ice. It'll trip you up, sending you flying."

"How do I know I can trust you? Weren't ye just sayin' how much you love to watch people fall? Maybe this is all an elaborate scheme to make a fool outta me," Niall huffs out a teasing laugh, nudging Zayn's skate with his own and promptly losing his balance, grabbing onto the wall for support. 

Zayn answers without thinking, lightly gripping Niall's chin, "Nah, 'd be a shame to see anything happen to this face." Once it's out there there's no taking it back, so he smiles wide, tongue against his teeth and eyes crinkling. It's the smile Liam always tells him he could take down an army with, and that's what he feels like he's trying to do with Niall. 

Niall looks pleasantly surprised, eyes open and unguarded, before breaking out into a cackling laugh. "I've got a charmer on my hands. Okay, yeh've got my trust. Anything else I should know then?"

He thinks on it for a moment, before answering, "The most important thing is balance."

Nodding, Niall gets a good grip on the wall and locks his eyes on his skates, tentatively pushing off the ice and shifting his weight the way Zayn told him to. He glides forward, not relinquishing his grip on the wall, but when he tries to switch to his right foot he falters, swerving towards the wall and coming to an abrupt stop.

"Shit."

"No, no that wasn't bad!" Zayn insists, stopping beside Niall. "You've got the right idea. You just need to make the foot switch a bit smoother. Don't doubt yourself."

"Very inspirational Zaynie," Niall smirks, shifting his attention back to his feet. He does just as Zayn asks, neatly doing the weight transfer and pushing off the opposite foot with only a little stutter this time, but Zayn is still stuck on the new nickname.

He kind of loves it, reminds him of when his little sisters used to call him Zazza.

"How was that?" Niall's looking at him expectantly, and Zayn smiles. 

"That was great. Think you could do it without holding on to the wall this time?"

Without answering, Niall's face turns to pure determination as he pushes himself away from the wall. Zayn just stands back and watches while Niall takes to the ice. He starts out alright, if a bit slow, jerkily shifting his weight between each foot and propelling himself forward. On his third go, though, he tips his toe forward just on this side of too much and it catches harshly against the ice, throwing off his balance and causing him to pitch forward.

Zayn just reacts, flying forward and planting himself in front of Niall to break his fall. Niall's arms flail out, catching on Zayn's shoulder and the wall, pulling them both to the ground in a jumble of limbs and breathless laughter.

"Ha! I knew you were all talk," Niall wheezes out once he's caught his breath a bit.

"All talk? I just sacrificed my life to break your fall! I could've died!" Zayn cries dramatically, gripping Niall's arm and shaking him playfully. He can feel his silly side coming out, the side of him that he saves for Safaa and maybe Liam and Louis if they're drunk. 

"Oh please," Niall rolls his eyes, going to hoist himself up. Apparently, he is not prepared for the challenge of standing while wearing skates, and he's barely got his foot planted on the group before it slips out from under him. He immediately crashes back to the group, landing with a grunt flat on Zayn's chest.

They both groan, laughing at the absurdity of it all, acknowledging. Zayn looks up and notices Liam and Louis stood by the wall a few feet from them, with the tall lanky bloke Niall'd come with, all of them doubled over in laughter. 

"Feels a bit strange being on this end of the joke," Zayn looks up at Niall's face above him, flushed and amused and altogether kissable, and he grins, "Definitely not a bad strange, though."

Niall grins and asks with a gasps, "Zayn, are you implying that you'd like to kiss me?"

Zayn rolls his eyes fondly-- he's known this kid all of an hour and he's already head over heels for him,  _literally--_  "Don't recall saying anything about that, Niall. But now that you mention it..."

Zayn kisses him right there, cold ice against his back and Niall's warm body pressed to his chest, and he thinks maybe he should ignore Louis' advice more often.


End file.
